


Memory Album

by BritishSarcasm



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: F/M, This is a bit of a break and a good writing excercise but I hope you can all enjoy it just the same, and the prompts I found this year could be easily applied to BotW, because I've never been able to finish drawing them, this isn't the epilogue for Ironic Tech, written Inktober Prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-03 01:30:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16316546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BritishSarcasm/pseuds/BritishSarcasm
Summary: Odd moments from Link's time before the Calamity as the Princess's Knight, his journey across Hyrule as the Kingdom's awakened Hero, and his life after as a modest house husband.Each moment is based on an Inktober prompt, uploaded a week at a time.





	1. Week 1, Awakened Hero

**Author's Note:**

> I said to myself that I wasn't going to even attempt to finish Inktober this year, but then I thought, what if I just wrote the prompts instead of drawing them? I find writing faster, I could do little drabbles, so here we are. Week 1 are all snippets from Link's adventure after his 100 year nap.
> 
> (I'm running a little late but shhh, I've been busy with Con season so I'm catching up~)

** 1\. Poisonous **

Link learned the hard way that not everything was edible.

Scrunched up on the ground, fighting the urge to heave again even though there was nothing left in his stomach, he regretted putting the whole plant into his broth. Previously, the produce of the orange flowering plant had added a nice spicy taste to his meals. This time he had decided to just add in the rest of plant as he was all out of peppers. This turned out to be a mistake.

After wallowing in self pity for a good hour, as his whole body shivered on the ground at the base of a tree, Link decided to take himself somewhere safe. Appearances be damned. If he were lucky somebody might feel sympathy for him and offer him a way out of his predicament. He couldn't really save the world if he was throwing up everything he ate now could he?

After teleporting to Kakariko Village and nearly passing out on the Shrine, he sat in front of Impa as the elderly Sheikah held his face in her hands.

“Foolish boy,” she admonished, tone lacking in any actual chastisment. “What have we learned about eating everything we find?”

Link made himself look as pathetic as possible, which wasn't difficult given how pale and dreary he was.

“We've got you, don't worry. I'm glad you came to us instead of trying to deal with it on your own. You used to be so stubborn. Then again ...” Impa looked thoughtful as Paya arrived and offered him a cup of antidote. “I suppose you wouldn't remember what is dangerous to eat or not any more would you?”

The Hylian Champion blinked miserably as he sipped from his cup. _Damn amnesia_

** 2\. Tranquil **

Despite all the carnage and the eerie reminders of a fallen Kingdom scattered about the land of Hyrule, the landscape was beautiful. Link enjoyed taking a moment to appreciate the view after he had decimated a monster camp, sitting down on the plush grass with an apple in hand as he surveyed the countryside.

Nobody else dared to come this close to Central Hyrule, with all the Guardians still prowling across the fields and moblins hiding in the crumbling remains of destroyed garrison outposts. Sitting here, with the wind blowing through his hair and the sun peaking through the cloud cover, he couldn't help but find the place relaxing.

This is where he belonged and he hoped that one day he'd be able to enjoy this with the Princess beside him too.

** 3\. Roasted **

According to the Sheikah Slate, some foods had greater benefits when consumed after they had been cooked. _Too bad it didn't tell me which parts of a plant were to safe to eat,_ Link thought morosely, but he digressed, chucking some more chunks of meat into the pot to hiss and steam along with some chopped herbs.

He'd made a habit of stock piling large quantities of cooked food within the Sheikah Slate whenever he came across a lit cooking pot. Heaping as much meat over the fire as he could to watch them cook and sear against the flames while he stuck stripped branches made damp with water through filleted fish. 

Sometimes the smell of cooking meat would attract the attention of roaming bokoblins if he was in a remote location. While other times, he gained the interested eye of a wandering traveller who had come to rest at the stables. It was during the latter when it became easier to just start an impromptu cook out with everyone pitching in ingredients for him to mix together.

He was getting rather good at organising spontaneous feasts.

** 4\. Spell **

Link was once again back in the fairy grove as Cotera weaved her magic through his Sheikah armour. The perpetual night sky above showcased their spread of alien stars, while the giant flowers below glittered in the light from bioluminescent undergrowth. 

The stealth armour was his weakest set in terms of defence, but the outfits ability to make him near silent was it's true value. Hopefully, now that it was fully upgraded, it would be able to provide him with some measure of resistance against sneak attacks before he could switch to a more durable set of armour. The Yiga were getting far more daring.

“Cotera, how does upgrading my clothes give the item more durability? It's so thin...” Link asked, painfully aware of just how clingy the stealth outfit was on his body. It did make his legs look good though, so he couldn't complain too much.

“Oh sweetie, you know I can't tell you that,” the Great fairy winked at him cheekily, but she did go on to say, “you'll just have to make do with knowing that's it's _magic_.”

Link didn't feel like the answer was very satisfactory, but added this to the list of things he was going to ask the Princess once he freed her. She didn't seem to like writing things off as 'magic' either.

** 5\. Chicken **

_That looks like an easy target,_ Link assessed from his hiding place in the treeline, watching a small bird with a mixed plumage of rust, teal, and white peck about in the grassy verge on the side of the road. He brought up his bow, pulled back on the draw and released an arrow. The projectile soared straight through the air, heading directly for the oblivious, defenceless bird until the arrowhead suddenly bounced off of it's feathery hide.

Link stared. The bird had stopped foraging and was now tilting it's head this way and that, trying to locate the source of the attack. Finding no cause for alarm, it went back to pecking in between blades of grass.

Blinking several times to make sure that his eyes were working normally, Link lined up another shot and let it fly. Again his arrow bounced off of the bird, which was now looking distinctly irritated, and Link had to muffle an infuriated shout into the back of his hand. What was with this bird?

Storming out of the undergrowth to approach the creature - the Sheikah Slate beeped to inform him that it was called a 'Cucco' – Link raised a broadsword high, determined for this feathery being to become his lunch. The blade swung down upon the Cucco only to slide gracefully across it's back and then embed itself into the ground below, shearing the grass as it went.

 _What the fuck is this thing?!_ Link panicked, backing up as he tugged the sword out of the dirt.

The cucco turned to face him, exuding an aura of doom as it opened it's beak and shrieked up at the sky. The resulting chaos chased Link back into the forest in his attempt to escape and miles away, locked within the Castle, Princess Zelda laughed for the first time in a century.

_I'm so glad I caught that._

** 6\. Drooling **

Link had been avoiding tackling the encampment of moblins to the north of Hyrule Castle for a while. Always skirting around it whenever he had to travel west from the Eldin region. Today, however, he had decided to test his skills and his luck against the towering beasts. While his skills were up to par his luck clearly wasn't on this particular occasion. A stray arrow deflected off of a moblin's shield directly into Link's shoulder.

He hissed, taking a step back to gain some distance before plunging his blade into the charging moblin's face, which disintegrated around his weapon upon death. The moblin that had shot him by proxy was now advancing towards him. Apparently, it had run out of arrows.

As it approached, Link gripped the arrow shaft tightly and gave a slight tug. He grunted with pain but he felt it give so he yanked it cleanly out the rest of the way. Just muscle damage, his armour had stopped the majority of the projectile's momentum. The moblin was now upon him and as Link eased his shoulder back into motion, the monster did something rather odd.

He had seen moblins pick up anything they could reach to use as a weapon, even throwing other monsters, but he had never seen one attempt to bite him before. This one, blue in colour, had its mouth wide open, jagged teeth on show and drool hanging in citrine strands from it's maw.

_Gross._

Attempting to lop it's head from it's body - since it was so obligingly close - Link brought his blade up to slice through the moblins neck. The sword barely left a bruise before it shattered against the beasts thick skin, leaving his sword arm exposed. The moblin bit down hard causing Link to scream, both out of shock and pain as pressure built around his forearm. Something gave and then a bone snapped. Procuring a new weapon from his hoard, Link sunk a moonlight scimitar into the beasts skull with his free hand, yelling through the adrenaline, and the monster's jaws went slack. The pressure around his arm lessened more and more until the monster faded away completely into ash.

Link dropped to the ground hard, raising his arm gingerly to look over his injuries. Several puncture marks in irregular patterns covered the entire length of his forearm and the skin around it was starting to bruise. Even though thee area was covered in drool the pain was actually starting to leave. Mipha must be starting to patch him up. 

_Ok, I should get this clean, I have some water somewhere and then maybe I can find something to wrap- … Oh … oh woah,_ Link felt the world around him tilt a little as his thoughts became sluggish. A tingling sensation was beginning to creep along his right side and then his entire sword arm went numb.

_Huh … moblin saliva contains neurotoxin … wait ... how do I know that … I should probably take a Hearty Elixir or something..._

** 7\. Exhausted **

Coming across monsters and assassins every single day was beginning to get tiresome. Link enjoyed a challenge, but the constant wariness and being unable to let down his guard for more than two minutes was really starting to wear him out. He felt like he was on edge all the time these days and as the days stretched on into weeks his fatigue accumulated until one morning he woke up and just could not bring himself to move.

The spot he had chosen to camp for the previous night was at the top of a Sheikah Tower, so he was fairly safe. Still, he had things to do, places to go, Divine Beasts to free and a myriad of other problems to solve, he couldn't just lie here and-

 _Sleep, Link,_ a voice upon the wind whispered to him. It sounded comforting and familiar, like he had heard it once before in a dream or perhaps a memory. He decided to listen to it, snuggling deeper into his bedding again as he allowed his aching body succumbed to sleep.

_I'll wake you when you're ready, Link. Just as I did before._


	2. Week 2, Appointed Knight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided Week 2 would consist of short scenes pre-Calamity, except Prompt 8 because I wrote that one before all the others and I liked it too much. Link is an oblivious, polyamorous fool and doesn't know how to deal with anything that's happening to him.  
> By the way the list I am using can be found [[here]](https://66.media.tumblr.com/9f9ea2af458c720381234dd1f5112e96/tumblr_pfvahdrQw81shpardo1_540.jpg)

** 8\. Star **

Nothing could get Link moving faster than a quick streak of gold light hurtling across the sky in the dead of night. 

Sometimes, Link couldn't find sleep, no matter how long he kept still, warm and comfy in a makeshift nest. He would try exercising, only to find this just made his body tired and his brain overactive. Then he would try reading, but this led to a collection of new questions which kept him awake. Other times, Link just enjoyed travelling at night; there was a certain peacefulness that couldn't be found during the day. It also helped that monsters were asleep around this time too and they were easier to sneak past. So, it was not uncommon to find him trekking through Hyrule towards his new destination under the light of the moon and a network of accompanying stars.

All it took was for one of these stars to fall and all of his plans came to a screeching halt.

Link had been half way up a cliff when he spotted the burning ball of light. He followed it's path until it crashed down into a field on the other side of a copse of trees in the distance. Launching himself up in leaps and bounds, Link scrambled over the edge of the cliff to bring his map up. Judging from his position on the map, the way he was facing, and a few noticeable landmarks that stood out in the night, he was able to triangulate where it had landed. It wasn't too far from an activated Shrine.

After checking that sunrise wasn't due for another couple of hours at least, Link brought his finger down upon the screen, selecting the Shrine as a travel point. His body disintegrated into ribbons of blue light, drifting up and away to ride the winds towards his prize, which lay waiting for him in an open field leaving a glowing beacon for him to chase.

** 9\. Precious **

The double meaning of the Princess' monologue in regards to the elusive flower was not lost on Link, but he'd been distracted at the time as a handful of frog had been shoved in his face soon after.

Now that he'd had time to himself to think over her words more critically, he was even more determined to keep some of their extra excursions a secret. He would need some better cover stories; his current excuse for extending their trips with a route change due to monster camps could only work so many times. The weather was also easily traceable.

Link sighed, pivoting on the spot as he re-traced his steps back along the bridge connecting the Princess' room to her study. He would soon be swapped out for the night guards soon, but he was taking the time now to think of any way he could increase his charge's time outside of the Castle. She was clearly choking here, but either nobody else saw it or nobody else wanted to acknowledge it.

Without her, they would all be lost, Sacred Blade or not, surely they should be more mindful of how she was faring. Or maybe she was just that good at putting up a facade – he could sympathize.

Perhaps, if he couldn't bring her to the outside, he would bring the outside to her. With that in mind, Link handed over night duty to the Guards that arrived to replace him and went to the library. The Silent Princess was supposed to be a very selective flower, he would have to be careful with it and treat it kindly.

** 10\. Flowing **

He wasn't sure when Mipha had decided that his health was her responsibility, but he could hardly complain when it meant that she would heal every cut or bruise she could see whenever he visited. It also meant that she had to get close to him and hold onto him to keep him still, something neither of them minded. 

Her magic worked over him as she meticulously checked him for any signs of pain or discomfort he might be trying to hide. Blue waves caressed his limbs, docile like a river, but he knew that Mipha had the ability to contain a storm, a rushing tidal wave. He often wondered just how far her healing abilities could stretch, but he didn't ever intend to make her find out.

With the eyes of the Kingdom on him, and the Princess' resentment, his continuing friendship with Mipha was a blessing. She never asked him for anything he wasn't willing to offer himself. The other Champions naturally gravitated towards their leader, towards the Princess. While they involved themselves with progress being made against the Calamity, the Zora Princess would always take the time to find him standing a little away from the rest. He had realised it was just less stressful for everyone if he kept out of the Princess' line of sight. Unfortunately, this tended to leave him a little isolated and none of the people he once knew from training had much time for him any more. But it wasn't anything he couldn't handle, being left alone was preferable to being crowded.

So his continued companionship with Mipha was a nice change of pace and he watched as a graze across his knee knitted itself back together. It was bizarre to watch but it wasn't uncomfortable. The damaged skin no longer stung as Mipha's healing grace washed over it like warm water. He would have to ask one day if she was also responsible for the sensation of calm that settled over him as she patched him up. She wasn't just healing him physically whenever they spent time together.

“It's good to see you,” Link murmured, taking hold of Mipha's hand as it lingered over his now unblemished skin. She placed her other hand over his.

“It's good to see you as well.”

** 11\. Cruel **

Rage, strong and blinding, nearly made Link's entire body quiver where he knelt on the stone floor of the walkway leading to Zelda's study. The words that had just come forth from the King's mouth were unnecessary and downright hostile in his opinion. But he could say nothing. The one instance when his voice was actually demanding to be used, he could not.

The Princess remained standing as her father walked away from her, taking his guards with him. He clearly deemed Link's presence enough to keep his daughter safe, but that thought was fleeting as he dared a glance up. 

She was still faced away from him but her shoulders were tight and her hands were gripping her skirts tightly. _She's going to break._

Standing swiftly, he didn't bother masking his footsteps as he approached her back and placed a hand between her shoulder blades. There was a subtle flinch but her tense figure relaxed minimally when she realised it was just them on the walkway now.

“Let's go inside,” he said, prompting her to turn slowly, dazed and upset, back towards her study.

He would be there when she needed to break apart, repeating those callous words on repeat inside her head, safe in her cultivated space and he would make sure that nobody else saw her. Nobody else inside this Castle would ever see her like that, they would never see her as anything less than perfect, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

** 12\. Whale **

To a regular sized Hylian, King Dorephan was huge; a towering Zora whose presence extended far beyond his physical form. But to a Hylian child, especially one as small as Link, he was gargantuan. Yet Link never feared him. The Zora King was a jovial, light-hearted man who seemed to approve of his daughters friendship with him, despite Muzu's caution.

Link wasn't even double digits when he first met Dorephan, accompanying his mother as she attended a diplomatic meeting between ambassadors. He didn't understand what they were talking about, just that his mother made communication easier between both parties. 'My job is to stop people arguing so much,' she had told him once, 'and to do that we need to _understand_ each other and our cultural differences – things that are normal to us may not be for Zora'. His mother had introduced him to a dark scaled Zora who worked alongside her and mirrored her job but from the Zora's side of things. His attention shifted drastically, however, when he was brought up to the throne room and saw the King.

“Ah, so this is the one my daughter talks about. He doesn't talk much does he?” Dorephan asked.

Mipha giggled as Link's mother leaned down to put her finger underneath his chin and snapped his mouth shut.

** 13\. Guarded **

Silence was often mistaken for aloofness or arrogance. A response was not needed if the question was deemed unworthy of an answer. Link's oddly passive nature – given his position – could also be mistaken for apathy. Was he that unfazed? Did he have that much confidence in his ability to deal with the Calamity? Nothing seemed to unnerve him, a pillar of stability.

Very few realised the truth of his fixed outward appearance. While he may look calm and collected to those who only took the time to see what they wanted to see, it was merely a shield, a veneer that covered how truly unsettled he was. He just dealt with it in a way that wouldn't affect other people, especially those who were already struggling with the weight of unreasonable expectations.

The blank slate persona would remain, people could believe whatever they wanted to and see qualities in him that put their minds at ease. In the end, it wasn't just the Princess he was trying to keep safe.

** 14\. Clock  **

Link had forgotten what a regular sleeping schedule felt like. His only reliable indication of time at this point was the passage of the sun across the sky.

His routine was a mixture of Castle life – guard duty, social functions, research assistant - and expeditions on the road with the Princess. In the Castle, he would rise early to use the training yard before the knights and squires in the barracks woke up and guard the Princess' tower on alternating nights. When travelling, he would remain awake until the the moon had passed it's apex and he could ensure that any near by monsters were no longer active. A few hours sleep every night were all he could afford unless both himself and the Princess were located safely within the walls of guarded settlements.

Occasionally, he was expressly forewarned that the Princess would not be leaving the Castle and that there were no duties he needed to attend alongside her. On such days, he spent the majority of the daylight hours face down on his bed, completely dead to the world. The only thing that kept him from sleeping well into the night was the glare of the setting sun shining into his room to mark the end of the day.

Suspiciously, once he and the Princess began to see eye to eye, he suddenly found himself with a lot more 'free' days.


	3. Week 3 - House Husband

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Later than intended, got sick from Con weekend at the end of October.  
> A week of prompts featuring Link once the Calamity has been defeated and he is living a 'quiet' life, married to Zelda in their house in Hateno. None of that re-claiming the Throne business, Zelda's been through enough.

** 15\. Weak **

It was pretty galling whenever Link had to be confined to bed because he had no energy to move, chest rattling whenever he breathed and throat sore. His entire body brought down by such a small scale invasion and he couldn't even do anything to actively fight it. Instead, he was reduced to a wheezing mess of a Hylian left to stare up at the ceiling above his bed.

At least he was able to sleep as much as he wanted, propped up on pillows to keep his airways clear. He was lucky that Zelda's divine blood kept her healthy, otherwise he would be very lonely in his bed-ridden state as well as sick. She had taken to bringing her research notes and lists of ingredients into the loft space with her, sitting next to him and maintaining a one-sided conversation as she explained her thought process. 

Zelda's knack for innovation and experimentation led to the creation of a drink that eased the pain in his ribs so that he could breathe without wincing every five seconds. Just as well really as he was finding himself more and more prone to illnesses these days.

The current hypothesis was that due to continuous stress over the better part of a year since waking from the Shrine of Resurrection his bodies natural defences had been gradually worn down.

“It could also be that you still had residual effects from the Shrine itself, giving you some resistance to infection. Actually, now that I think about it, you're now experiencing a whole range of new pathogens in this era. Over one hundred years separate your immune system from the infectious populations that exist in Hyrule now.” Zelda's monologue petered off as she looked at his pale face and shadowed eyes, “now that I think about it, you've been very lucky thus far.”

[Don't I know it] Link signed, fingerless woolly gloves covering his hands to keep them warm. [It's because I have you]

That earned him a kiss on the forehead.

** 16\. Angular **

The strange cube houses that resided across the bridge from Link and Zelda's home didn't really fit in with the aesthetic of the rest of the village, but that wasn't to say that they were not pleasant to look at. Each block could be it's own pale shade, interlocked with that of it's neighbours or continuations of the same abode. Given the limited architecture, there were a lot of arrangement possibilities.

“The compact cube design could actually allow for much better room organisation and storage opportunities,” Zelda commented as she and Link passed by the quaint little buildings on their way home. “Different room purposes could be sorted by each cube ... Tower houses... Towns built into grids...”

Link didn't say anything until they were fully across the bridge, letting his wife continue her list of speculations. He could see her point and agreed with her as each home would easily be able to slot in next to each other, but before he opened their front door he turned to her and said very firmly, “we're not getting a cube house.” 

“Of course not,” she said, passing him into the house as he held open the door, “I dare not imagine the kind of fort you'd build on the flat roof if we did.”

Link let the door fall shut behind him with a soft thump.

** 17\. Swollen **

It was oddly impressive that Link seemed to acquire _more_ injuries now that he was living a 'quiet life' compared to when he was racing all over Hyrule to get to the Divine Beasts. Or perhaps it was because he now had to live with the consequences of his recklessness because Mipha was no longer around, in body or spirit, to heal him.

Instead, Zelda had to help him splint and bandage a broken arm. At least he was ambidextrous.

“The damn thing was obviously too far for you to reach, why on earth did you even try?” Zelda admonished, gently packing his arm around the splints before securing it all together with fibre bandages. His limb was already inflamed and bruised in all sorts of colours so she couldn't secure everything too tightly.

“Because you needed it,” Link said, sounding embarrassed.

During her reading, Zelda had discovered mention of a fruit that grew from a cliff dwelling plant. A fruit that when combined with the ingredients of a healing elixir could increase it's potency, allowing for a greater range of injuries to be mended with fewer applications. It was just as well, because as Link had leaned precariously away from his perch on the sheer rock face to pick the fruit, the rocks beneath his fingers had crumbled under his weight. The only reason that he hadn't hit the ground at full speed and suffered a severe injury was because his arm got stuck on a tree branch on the way down.

Better his arm than his neck.

He had still been holding the fruit when Zelda reached him, grimacing in pain and covered in leaves but still looking proud of himself regardless. Then that accomplished expression had steadily drained from his face as he realised just how much pain he was in. To add insult to injury it seemed that Link was allergic to something in the fruits skin, so now his entire arm was out of commission.

He poked at the swelling, like a curious child, only to wince in pain, both from his arm and the flick to the ear he received from Zelda. Sitting miserably on the edge of their bed, cradling his splint arm gingerly in his other hand, his exasperated spouse put the newly acquired ingredient to good use.

She took particular care to remove all traces of the skin.

** 18\. Bottle **

Link knew he had a habit of skipping over emotional revelations, especially negative ones, always telling himself that he would look at it in greater detail when he had the time. But then he either forgot or simply chose not to because he did not wish to dwell on such things. If he couldn't immediately change what was affecting him – or start working towards it – then what was the point?

However, this tended to lead to moments where so many feelings had been pushed aside that he couldn't even parse through them when he needed to. They had all turned into an amorphous collection of emotions that was impossible to untangle, leaving him uncomfortable and anxious. 

It was a habit he'd cultivated one hundred years ago; the clamour of so many different worries and concerns eventually became background noise that could only be ignored. But now, safe in his home sipping tea at the dinner table, he had time and people who would listen to _him_. 

Sometimes he caught himself trying to send another emotional epiphany into his mental queue, while other times he didn't even realise that he had become so withdrawn and silent until Zelda prompted him to unravel it all. 

“You remind me of a hedgehog sometimes, you know?” Zelda said, drinking from her own cup of tea as she nudged Link's crossed ankles with her foot below the table. 

Mentally and emotionally drained after airing all of his upsets, Link could only raise both eyebrows in question, extremely curious to hear her reasoning for this one. He still managed to nudge her back with his toes.

“Well, if you're prodded or bothered too much you curl up into a more defensible position. Protecting yourself, even if it does hinder you in other ways. But if left alone for a bit and then coaxed a little you open up again,” she finished, looking pleased with her analogy. “Also your hair imitates one on some mornings.”

This got Link to smirk, unable to contain himself.

[That's because your hands were tangled up in it a few hours ago]

His heart was already much lighter from sharing his minor troubles with Zelda and he laughed a loud when she threw a biscuit at him, cheeks flushing.

** 19\. Scorched **

“Have you ever been burnt, Link?”

“Do Guardians count?”

The sun was out and both Hylians had dirt up to their elbows and their knees were sinking into freshly upturned earth. Zelda currently held a potted seedling in one hand that she was about to upturn to replant into the earth, while Link was busy spreading some seeds into narrow ploughed troughs between them. They were in the process of establishing the vegetable patch and herb garden, marking out areas where each vegetable would go, and for once Link was not wearing any gloves. Zelda was wearing a pair of supple, worn leather gloves but Link's hands were used to rough work so he left his skin bare.

On the back of one of his hands was an elongated mark of darkened skin, smooth and shiny like a burn. There were numerous other tiny scars here and there; white little lines that decorated his fingers. Early accidents with a sharp blade no doubt, but the one on the back of his hand didn't fit in with the others and Zelda had been immediately seized by curiosity. To clarify her question, Zelda pointed. 

Link frowned down at where she was pointing, eyebrows pinched as his eyes became distant recalling the event that had led to his injury. When the correct memory slotted itself into place his blue eyes widened and he caught Zelda's eye, grinning. 

“It was a baking accident!”

“So not a training miscalculation or an unwise venture too near an open fire?”

He shook his head, smiling ruefully, “left my hand near a baking tray fresh out of the oven.”

Zelda rolled her eyes. Most of Link's injuries seemed to be due to minor foolish mistakes he'd conducted in his youth, the eager little wild child that he'd been - and still was to this day.

“I still think the Guardian burns are more impressive. Those were some near misses,” Link admitted, twisting around and lifting his shirt to look at the smooth streaks of white on his side.

Zelda was very familiar with those already. 

She had been there when the Guardian beams had narrowly skimmed past his body as he drew their fire away from her and dodged at the last second. The air around the blast had seared through Link's clothes to burn his skin and every time she saw those scars – placed a kiss against them - she imagined what would have happened had Link not been so agile.

If those scars were from 'near misses' she dreaded to think what direct hits would have done to him.

** 20\. Breakable **

It didn't occur to Link that the amount of weaponry he went through during his quests should have been alarming until Zelda brought it up. When she got her hands on all of the 'scrap metal' Link had told her she could take to the Hateno Lab she couldn't help but notice that it was all discarded swords and shields.

“Link, how did all of these break? Or did you find them like this?”

“Oh, I ... err,” Link looked uncharacteristically shifty as he glanced away from the scrap pile, “I broke them.”

“You- you _broke them_?!” Zelda asked, aghast.

“Yeah,” Link said, drawing out the word as he smiled at her nervously, scratching the base of his neck. “You know the phrase 'don't know you're own strength?', well...”

“I honestly don't know whether to be worried or impressed. Then again these were all probably made over a century ago. At least the Master Sword is supposed to be indestructible even if you did manage to put it through it's paces defending me. It was in such a state when I put it back in it pedestal,” Zelda recalled, before eyeing the blade safely tucked away in it's scabbard hanging from the stairs railing. “It certainly looks ok now, it must be able to repair itself.”

Link muttered something under his breath and she turned back to see him with his shoulders bunched up by his ears. She asked him to repeat himself.

“I said the Master Sword broke too.”

There was a heavy silence as Zelda stared at him and the longer her eyes rested upon his form the more uncomfortable Link felt. The sword that Seals the Darkness, the Legendary Blade, blessed by Hylia herself and he'd managed to shatter it on numerous occasions. The sacred blade had often simply disintegrated from his grasp only to reform and return to him a short while later. It stopped doing it once he had completed the Trials but the first time had nearly given him a heart attack. 

After explaining all of that he wasn't about to admit that he usually broke the sword because he was using it for things it wasn't supposed to be used for. Like splitting upon mineral deposits. 

“But I have a shield that's never broken, not even a split!” Link announced quickly, as if to sweep aside the previous issue and he rushed up the stairs. 

He ducked down under their bed and dragged out his Hylian Shield, still as shiny and pristine as the day he'd earned it in the Castle Dungeons. With a proud smile he brought it back downstairs to show Zelda.

“My Hylian Shield!”

Peering over the rim as he held it in front of him to gauge her reaction he was surprised to see her transfixed by the sight of it. She was staring at the emblem of the Royal Family; the scarlet bird and golden triforce were reflected in her emerald eyes. For a moment he worried that a reminder of the life she had passed by would bring her spirits down, but instead she lifted her gaze to stare at him.

“How did you get this?”

The former Princess was wide-eyed and incredulous, her voice a mere reverent whisper as Link lowered the shield. It was almost as if she were afraid to hear the answer.

“It was given to me. Inside a chest. It appeared after I defeated the Stalnox in the Castle Dungeons,” Link explained and he could immediately discern from her expression that this was not normal. But really, what was normal for them these days? “There was an inscription. That those that took on the trial and defeated the monster there would earn their Shield.”

“Oh they did, they did, Link,” Zelda affirmed, nodding her head in a daze as she came forward to take hold of the shield. “But the knights that undertook that trial in the Castle one hundred years ago would have a shield made for them. A shield in homage to the true Hylian Shield worn by the ancient Hero which was lost centuries ago. They were specially made. For you to have one now, for it to appear before you...”

She left her sentence unfinished and Link could fill in the rest.

This was _the_ shield, returned to him after so many years.

He tilted it up so he could see the design on the front, casting a mix of blue and red light across his face as it reflected the late afternoon sun coming in from the upstairs window. 

“So, what I'm hearing is... This Shield won't break on me?” Link said, looking hopeful.

Zelda sighed fondly, “Yes, Link. This Shield is blessed by the Goddesses themselves and should stand up to the tests of time, which even includes your rough treatment.”

“Sweet.”

** 21\. Drain **

Link had never explained how he got the Master Sword. Zelda had never asked. She wanted to, but she just wasn't sure how to broach the topic given that she used to resent it's mere existence. Then again, the sword had saved his life and the entire Kingdom with it's guidance.

She hadn't heard it since.

“Have you ever heard the Sword? I asked you once before, do your remember?” Link nodded, so she continued, “you didn't really give me an answer then but later you said that the Sword had never spoken to you directly. But you could feel it's presence, I was just wondering if you're answer had changed.”

Link thought it over for a moment before answering, [Once. When I found the Sword again after I'd woken up. She said hello]

This gave Zelda pause, “she?”

Link startled and actually flushed a bit before going on to explain, [I think it's a she, feels … feminine? I don't know, but I was tested again and in the end she seemed happy. She didn't actually speak until I'd finished the Sword Trials]

“Wait, a test?” Zelda knew the Sword posed a challenge to would-be wielders, but she thought it was a mere physical limitation. The Sword simply would not move unless it's – her – Master took hold of it. “What kind of test?”

[If you didn't have enough spirit to hold it, you were knocked unconscious or killed]

Zelda choked on her next breath. Link had nearly died drawing the Sword the first time around and there she had been thinking it was practically handed to him. She would never know where he had found the grace to put up with her during those early days.

“But you weren't, so clearly the Sword knew it was you, correct? It wouldn't try to kill you.”

Link gaze flickered away and her heart seized, casting the blade in question a swift, dirty look out of the corner of her eye.

[Maybe Hero has a certain amount of energy that the Sword can recognise. Or you need enough to be worthy] He perked up suddenly resting his hands on the table as he leaned closer. “It's the same as the One Hit Obliterator, it whittled my life energy away until I was running on bare minimum. Only difference was my energy was restored immediately after pulling the Master Sword.”

Zelda grimaced, “that still an extreme precaution. Why can't it just shock people instead.”

Link gave her a flat look, “you don't remember how fool hardy the Hylian soldiers were do you?”

She only had to give it a minutes consideration before she conceded the point. The Sword would never have had a moments peace if found.


End file.
